Tag Archives: Uses of History

Back in the Classroom

Marketclysm at the Classroom Door

An earlier version published as “Should We Really Turn College Education Over to the Free Market?” History News Network (March 8, 2016), http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/161910

Should We Really Turn College Education Over to the Free Market?

In an era when the number of words on Twitter in only two years will exceed the number of words ever published, academic scholars should pay heed to changes in writing and teaching swiftly taking place outside their offices and classrooms.  There are powerful forces calling for briefer expositions and for teaching to appeal to a market that expects and demands such brevity.  While paying attention to those calls, academics should remember that beyond appealing to their audiences, their deeper purpose is to inspire and provoke.  Read more… Continue reading →

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the United States of Distracted Attention

ADHD: Contesting the Human Normal

An earlier version published as “There’s a Way to Lower the Incidence of ADHD. We Should Try It.” History News Network (January 31, 2016), http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/161839

With some cultural changes reducing the enormity of distractions, prevention can become a realistic part of the response to ADHD, and an upgrade on living for everyone else too. After all, prevention is easier and more effective than cure, and then we can reserve use of pharmaceutical remedies for severe cases. Continue reading →

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Values Questions

The Gritty Peace of Northern Ireland

Welcome to Belfast, the British Isles City of Broad Shoulders. This was the place where the “unsinkable” Titanic was built, so they clearly have a taste for daring experiments. This city was also a center of The Troubles, a too-polite phrase for the state of war between Protestants and Catholics from the 1960s to the 1990s.

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Values Questions

Of War and Peace: Learning From People You Disagree With

How do people with dramatically different views get so misguided? Listening to the news or to a casual conversation that gets caught up in Big Questions can feel like a trip to The Twilight Zone—different views are alien territory.

A quick return home from those alien views to familiar territory can feel comfortable, but even just a little longer stay can pay big rewards. On this Memorial Day, The Public Classroom offers stories and videos with loyal military veterans and committed peace advocates squaring off against each other, but also learning from each other over Big Questions about war and peace.

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Campaign 2012

The Outsiders Within: Obama, Romney, and the Tradition of Defying Tradition

Before You Vote, consider this likely pitch from the next popular politician: Vote for me!—I’m an outsider!

Americans have a tradition of defying tradition.

Dear Once and Future Voter: Who are the insiders you are hoping to overturn? Consider the case of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, two candidates for president in 2012 who are members of groups traditionally considered outside the American mainstream….

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Popular Culture and Cultural Politics

The Government Shutdown: Politics as War by Other Means

Originally published on October 8, 2013 in the History News Network, which can be accessed here: http://hnn.us/article/153522

With the shutdown of the federal government, we are a nation at war. While the vast majority of citizens would be content with almost any peaceable resolution, their elected leaders at the barricades keep the country in wartime footing. War emerges when political or diplomatic means fail; and war brings destruction. Witness the hardships that have already emerged from even a few days of shutdown, and there is no end in sight.

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Popular Culture and Cultural Politics

We are all weathermen now

January 2011

Another act of gruesome violence offers a painful reminder of the seething angers that lurk beneath daily life. The suspected shooter in Arizona (I avoid his name to keep from promoting his dark celebrity) may have no connection to extremist politics himself, but his depraved act is a reminder of the intense political views that have spurred violence of word and deed, as they have for years.

Most people lament the level of polarization that has overtaken our political discourse almost as much as they are horrified by the violence, but the polarization persists and even grows.

Just a few months ago, respected education professor William Ayers approached retirement at the University of Illinois, Chicago, but he was denied his bid for professor emeritus status. His case is a symbol of how we have not escaped our history—or our anger.

Read on here.

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Campaign 2008

Winning–That’s an Obscure Word in the Democratic Party Lexicon

November 2008

Eyes blink, and from the citadel of Democrats’ souls lurks an air of disbelief. “Pinch me,” they seem to say: “Is this real—or just a dream?”

The party faithful have been elated with the victories of Barack Obama and fellow Democrats across the country. But beneath the cheers, there is a hint of surprise. The land of Democrats had heard this odd little word used since Nov. 4. “We are not familiar with it in our land,” I imagine them saying . “This word, so strange, so cheerful—the word ‘w-i-n.’”

Read whole essay here….

 

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Campaign 2008

Is Sarah palin’?

October 2008

“It’s the economy, stupid.”

That was the mantra of the Democrats in 1992, when Bill Clinton won his first term in office. Today economic issues may once again be lifting a Democrat in the polls. But Democrats really have another secret weapon hidden in an obvious spot: the popularity of Sarah Palin.

Interested in reading more? Read on here.

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Campaign 2004

Saving Lt. Kerry: An open letter to the candidate

October 2004

Dear Sen. Kerry,

You must have noticed problems with your campaign during the past month or two since you have hired new strategists, and you have become more aggressive on the stump. Attacks on Bush will help, and they show a vigor that is vital for the electorate to see, but they need to be matched with better use of your own strengths—from your resume to your current policy plans.

George W. Bush has done an excellent if not-so-admirable job of defining you in the eyes of much of the electorate. Let’s put aside the shock about how you could have let that happen—there’s no time for that no. For the few weeks that remain before Election Day, I propose a campaign to educate the electorate about John Kerry. Clearly you’ve got the substance, but you need a story—to energize supporters and pull swing voters.

Read the rest of this piece here!

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